It's Surprising.

It really is surprising how a day can turn into a week and a week can turn into almost a month without posting. I apologize to anyone that tries to read my blog regularly. I understand that I should be keeping a better pace with these posts.

I have three major things to talk about today.

1. Champlain had a speaker come down named Scott Macmillan come down and speak to us. Or up rather as I believe he was from the Boston area. He spoke to us about he got into the industry and what we should and should not be worried about as we attempt to get into the industry ourselves. The two pieces of advice he had for us that I remember best are "Don't Panic" and that networking is important. So relying on the fact that I will have a degree and a decent portfolio thanks to my work at the EMC right now I'm focusing on not panicing and trying to meet as many people in the industry as I can.

2. The Information Literacy project that I'm working on came up for review this past Wednesday. We presented what we had done so far to the librarians so that they could give us a yay or nay on whether we should continue on or stop working on the project. It was a little stressful but I wasn't too worried about the whole situation. In the end they wanted us to keep working on it so I'll be finishing that up during the rest of this semester.

3. The Montreal International Game Summit is starting this Monday. I will be at it. My Lead Designer for the UN project will actually be speaking at the Summit which is pretty amazing. I wish I could be up there on stage with him, but I understand that you don't want to have everyone that's ever worked on a game up on stage when someone's talking about it. In most cases the stage wouldn't be big enough. That's not the case here but the same logic of don't send up 5 people when you need one speaker applies. In addition to my Lead Designer, Brian George, there will also Heather Conover, a designer from the other group, Wes Knee, the artist from my group, and of course Ann DeMarle, the General so-to-speak of the EMC, there speaking as well. So there will be a good representation there from our whole team, I think.

On a more academic note. I had to redesign my level idea for my Level Design. I had originally structured my design so that it would be an assault and defend map so that one side would be attacking and the other side defending. But we've discovered that this is just not possible to do in Unreal Tournament 3. So I am changing my map into a Capture the Flag map. This should make the map simpler and easier to build and play. After I've got it built and we enter the play testing portion of class I'll try and post up some screen shots. That's about it for me. I promise that I will try to get around to posting that comparison post, comparing my trip to South Africa through this project and my trips to Brazil and Japan through People to People Student Ambassadors at some point in the next week.

The Busy Life.

It's amazing how quickly you can get wrapped up in your work and not even notice it. I was talking to one of my room mates today and he commented on how little he's seen me in the past couple weeks. As much of a hit as my social life is taking I don't mind at all. I love doing my work so coming in to the EMC to work on it doesn't phase me like it does some people at other places.

A quick update on my two projects at the EMC. We were able to hire two new programmers for our project on Information Literacy, so things are moving a lot more smoothly and we're moving at a quicker pace than we were over the summer. As for the United Nations Project, we're really buckling down and working on the conceptual documents for the game ideas we have.

The EMC had a Grand Opening Gala Event on Tuesday night. I went and was able to talk to some people from Microsoft, EA, and Etherplay. There were many other companies represented but I simply couldn't talk to them all as there were just too many people and not enough time. Talking to some of the people there that work in the industry reaffirmed how difficult it is to get your foot in the door. However, I have a hopeful feeling that with the next batch of seniors and my class that we'll start turning heads in the industry and they'll be tripping over themselves to hire us.

As far as classes are going, related to my major, I am currently taking Game Engine I and Level Design. Game Engine I has proven to be a temperamental class as the program we are using is itself temperamental. I won't name what program we are using as I don't want to anger or annoy anyone who might be reading this blog. Level Design is a dream come true. If I could be taking that class this semester and no other classes I would be in heaven. I think I may have found my calling in the Industry as I really enjoy this class.

In the near future I am planning on going to MIGS, Montreal International Game Summit, which I am looking forward to with baited breath. I've got business cards and I'm working on my charm. It's only a matter talking to people and letting them know that they want to hire me now.

Idea Conceptualized

The teams have two ideas at the moment. So we've each come up with something and we're pushing forward. Thanks to Ann's love of the coopetition method of team work the plan is that instead of having all of us work on one idea and push that one forward we're going to have two teams sort of competing but at the same time working together to help each other and push two plans forward.

I'm not sure how much I can share about my group's idea so I'll just leave it at we have one and let you wait to find out what it is. Now that our two groups have come up with ideas and presented them to our Creative Director who has given suggestions and a thumbs up we're now going to begin the documentation process.

On another note Aminata is coming tomorrow, which is a big thing. She's our client so we're all excited and nervous about meeting her. We hope she likes the ideas we've come up with and where we're planning on bringing the project. She is also giving a talk to the campus so not only is she coming to talk to us but we're also sharing her with the rest of campus, which I believe is in the mission statement of the EMC to share our important guests with the college community as a whole.

Missing

Have you ever felt like you were forgetting something constantly. Just something at the edge of your mind waiting for you to remember and then you remember and you feel even worse that you forgot your mother's birthday then when you just knew you missed something? That's what I feel like right now. I'll be thinking to myself that something's missing and then I'll realize what it is. One of the artists in my classes, and on the UNFPA project team has decided that game art and animation is not where she wants to be. So she has left Champlain College and the project. We're all walking around and when we're not sure if someone knows we'll bring it up or at random times we'll just turn to each other and say "that sucks."

I don't think any of us expected people to be leaving the project unless they were graduating. I also don't think any of us were expecting anyone to leave the major now, considering most of us are juniors or older. It came as a surprise and a shock. I remember when she told me she asked if I was ready for some bad news and I said "No!" with the straightest please don't tell me something bad face I could muster. I wasn't expecting what she told me and while I had been joking around with the bad news face it quickly turned into a giant frown and puppy dog eyes, that didn't work.

But she's made up her mind, packed her things, and moved on. All I can do now is smile and be happy for her. I Don't feel like comparing my abroad experiences right now. I'm putting it off until next week.

Goodbye Jaime. I think I speak for all of us when I say

we'll miss you.

Taking the Plunge Again

Sorry for my lack of communication the past couple weeks. For anyone following this blog and not the blog for the UN project I'm on, we made it back safe and sound. It was a very good trip but still quite depressing for obvious reasons. We've begun work on the next step in this phase of the project and that's copying our notes down into digital form, transcribing all our interviews, etc.

Classes have also started up again. This semester the classes most related to my major that I am taking are Game Engine I where we're looking at the Torque 3D engine, specifically Torque Game Engine Advanced, and Level Design where we're working in the Unreal 3 Engine. In no other major can I see them having you buy a game for a class.

Well thought I'd update everyone, but unfortunately I'm already behind schedule with all my homework and the projects for the EMC so I'm going to leave you here and get back to work.

PS. Some of you may know that I've traveled abroad before as a Student Ambassador with People to People. I'm working on a comparison post for all of you in the next week to let you know how it compares to my other travels.

Greetings from South Africa

So we’ve been in South Africa for a couple days now and the experience and reaction we’re getting from people has been amazing. I think everyone on the trip loves every second that we’re here. The people are nice and friendly and the things we’re learning about making products go viral and how to properly format entertainment-education are invaluable.

The things we learn both about ourselves, the people of South Africa, and how South Africans view games are fascinating to myself. Earlier today I was speaking with some 19 year old South African women and they were shocked to hear that I was still playing video games at my age. They said to Corrin, one of the people on the trip, that they would not want to marry a man who played video games, after she shared that her husband still did.

It’s very interesting to learn all of these things. Not to mention that in the past couple days we’ve pretty much decided on a platform for the project and we’re really starting to nail down some thoughts, at least I believe we are. That isn’t to say we won’t change our minds as we’re still in the conceptual phase, but as time goes on we’re definitely getting a better feel of the country here and definitely, I think, learning how they think and how to talk to them.

Tomorrow

The day is almost here. Tomorrow we begin our Journey to South Africa. We're all feel very anxious, very excited, and very hectic as we're all running around taking care of all the little last minute things that we need to take care of.

I don't have much more to tell you on this except that the project now has it's own blog and we'll be updating it from South Africa so you can see it on my side links and you can stay up to date that way.

Incredible Opportunity

I purposefully waited to announce this. Probably because I didn't want this announcement to be the big reason why everyone came here and read what I wrote.

The United Nations has hired my department here at Champlain College to make a game. My department is the Emergent Media Center, hence why it's in my links on the side. The game they have asked us to work on is a game to try and help end violence against women. We're working with Population Media Center who have made many successful soap operas and radio dramas in multiple countries to help promote literacy, AIDS awareness, and awareness on other issues.

This Friday those of us working on the project will be traveling to South Africa. It's going to be a very long flight, which we're all planning on bringing a lot of travel games, but we're all pretty excited for this opportunity. After we fly down we'll be there for about 7 days doing research. I know this doesn't sound like a lot of time but after those 7 days we're going to fly back to Burlington, probably have a meeting including the whole department, then go to our first day of classes.

This is definitely going to be an amazing chance for all of us working at the department to really do something wonderful to help people. We're all looking forward to really buckling down and creating a great product. We just have to be careful, because someone said this about novels but I know it applies to games as well.

"You can have a wonderful idea, but there are only a handful of ways to tell it the right way, and over a million ways to tell it wrong way."

I believe it was Orson Scott Card who said that, or something similar as I probably paraphrased it, but the meaning is still there. There are going to be a handful of ways to properly make this game and a million ways to not make it properly. We're going to have to strive and push for one of those few proper ways to do it.

Declaration of Intentions

That title actually sounds a bit more important and formal than what I'm planning. But I thought up the phrase and now I'm sticking with it.

I am making this blog for the purposes of sharing some things with the world, or more specifically the video gaming world. This blog is to be a relatively formal place to share how I am Growing 'n' Gaming. Meaning that I will be posting here mainly about the things I learn, all though not all of the things I learn that's what notebooks are for, and design and team challenges I face both now and when I enter the industry. This will not be a place for me to vent my "I can't believe she turned me down on that date!" type of thoughts. I have other places for that and will turn to them get those frustrations off of my chest.

As I said this blog is about my growth in the video game industry and also probably as a gamer as well. I am a believer in the fact that we never stop learning and never stop growing so I expect that even many years from now I will be posting here. Rather than go on about this I think I will tell you a little bit about myself and save more information for my later posts.

I am currently a Junior in the Electronic Game Design major at Champlain College in Burlington, VT. Ever since I was in Elementary School I've cared a lot about games and I developed a drive in my heart to make things that other people can enjoy. Those are probably my two strongest driving factors in pursuing my current career path. I am confident that I will become a productive member of the game developer community, but only time will tell.